Diagonaldi Very well executed

Neive Bellamy Excellent and certainly provocative... If nothing else, the film is a real conversation starter.

Kamila Bell This is a coming of age storyline that you've seen in one form or another for decades. It takes a truly unique voice to make yet another one worth watching.

Cheryl A clunky actioner with a handful of cool moments.

maura-wesen I thoroughly enjoyed this movie. I love to watch horror movies but I always dread how they end because most horror movies end with a scary 'it's after you now!' kind of ending. Although this film was listed as horror, I would definitely not categorize it as such. I loved the plot, I just wish it wasn't claiming to be a horror movie. It started off creepy with not even the audience knowing what was going on, as horror movies do, but it came to a peaceful ending with the poor drowned boy finding his resolution as the main character, Ton Chatree, makes peace with his family and especially his father. I very much enjoyed this movie. The only thing that could raise it to a 10 out of 10 would be if the ending had resolved all of the conflicts brought up, rather than just the most important ones. The two other conflicts being that Vichien wasn't the only person who had died on the campus, the cook's pregnant daughter also died, but that wasn't addressed after the beginning. The other conflict was that it was clear Vichien didn't drown by accident, it looked like someone was pulling his right foot down into the water causing him to drown. If this movie was correctly labeled not as a horror movie, and if it wasn't set up as a horror movie in the beginning and then turning into a drama movie instead, this movie would be a lot better.

massaster760 Throughout the history of Asian horror many film makers have tried their hand at the sensitive ghost story. And the genre has been done with varying degrees of success. With Dorm, Director Songyos Sugmakanan elevates the genre to pinnacle not yet reached by previous attempts, creating a film that is simultaneously tragic, and creepy.Dorm tells the story of Chatree, a twelve year old with family issues, who begins the seventh grade at a new boarding school. The school itself is depressingly creepy, and is run by a ambiguously macabre teacher named Ms. Pranee. Chatree soon becomes bully fodder for the other students, until he meets Vichien, another boy with similar problems. As the two become close friends, Chatree finds himself drawing nearer to a dark and terrifying secret.The secret of Dorm's success is how seamlessly Sugmakanan juggles the creepy atmospheric vibes that are typical of Asian horror, with the tragedy of Asian dramas. One of the films creepiest -and tragic- qualities is the school itself. The sterile shots of the dormitories, dining halls, pools, and washrooms help reflect the films feelings of alienation and loneliness. Feelings that all twelve year old boys with displacement issues would be familiar with, and are represented well under Niramon Ross' expert cinematography.Along with the cinematography the film features an excellent (and subdued) score. It features slow moving orchestral pieces and haunting piano ballads. Although, this is typical of the genre, the score helps to heighten the films dramatic sense.Couple those qualities mentioned above with Charlie Trairat's nuanced portrayal of Chantree, and you've got yourself a damn good film. In fact, you'd be troubled to find fault with any of the actors in this film. Which is saying a lot when most of your cast is young boys. And it's not just the kids that hold their weight as thespians, Chintara Sukapatana is excellent(if not sadly underdeveloped) as the scarily sympathetic Ms. Pranee.To be truthful, while Dorm does have it's strength's it also has it's share of weaknesses. The films first 45 minutes are incredible and touches on the universal themes of childhood fear and angst. Then the film slows down to a snails pace and doesn't come back strong until the last 20 or so minutes. Also, the film has it's share of Asian ghost story cliché's but... that being said, it remains original enough in it's initial premise and delivery that the good qualities outweigh the bad.Bottom Line- Dorm is a well done sensitive ghost story with brilliant cinematography, acting, and score. While it does have it's clichés and faults, the premise and delivery far outweigh the faults.

DICK STEEL It was quite uncanny, a group of us were discussing making a movie about ghost stories told in schools. Sure, every school has its fair share of ghouls and goblins, and we'd thought it was interesting to have it done on film. Heck, we were actually in the premises of a school when we started to talk about it at night too. So imagine our surprise that Thailand actually made it first, and screened in local theatres no more than a month after we discussed.Dorm refers to the dormitory of an all boys boarding school. Chatree (Charlie Trairattana) gets sent to the school by his parents, against his wishes. I believe almost everyone would be familiar with the feeling of being uprooted from one school to go to another (be it upon graduation or otherwise), where there's a sense of loss somewhat, especially with friends.As with all new schools, the new kid on the block gets treated with suspicion, and he finds it extremely difficult to integrate into the school. It doesn't help that his initial gang of friends harbours thoughts of going all out to scare Chatree with many ghosts stories about the school (I could've sworn the toilet one was familiar territory, because I encountered something similar before), and making matters worst, the teacher (Jintara Sukphat) also becomes a key character in one of these stories, hence making Chatree wary.Despite being the social outcast, and a recluse, Chatree befriends another pupil, Wichien (Sirarath Jianthaworn). They become fast friends, but Wichien has a deep dark secret come 6pm everyday, when he disappears. By now, you would've guessed what would happen.Along the way, this movie somehow forgotten that it was supposed to be a horror movie. That, or the marketing folks have gotten it all wrong in promoting this flick. The horror genre is undoubtedly an extremely popular genre in Asia, one that will put folks into cinema seats, and riding on the wave of Shutter's success, it's easy to get caught up in what essential are the few and far between sense of fright that's packed into the trailer. Be warned, halfway through the movie, the horrifying moments get thrown out the window, and Dorm becomes more of a standard fare mystery. Quite a plain one actually, as the narrative gets stuck in cruise control throughout. You'll be able to guess the ending, and plot devices are thrown in only to help the movie proceed to the following scene.But there's a fun element thrown in, which I thought was quite neat. Fans of Hong Kong horror cinema would clearly identify the "Mr Vampire" remake in Dorm, where the students congregate for one of their night movie screenings. It's a deliberate cheesy remake, but I felt this was one of the more powerful scenes that snuck up on you, incorporating the twist revelation so well, I give it the thumbs up. And yes, the twist is revealed midway through the movie in this scene, and thereafter, "horror" gets forgotten.How's the horrifying content earlier in the movie you ask? It's not all that frightening, again relying on cheap tricks like musical crescendos to make you jump. You don't get to see much, except for shadows, sudden movements and closeups (hey, if I can survive this, so can you!). If I had a gripe, it would be with Chatree's hair continuity problem. Unless there's a barber in the school who cuts hair as good as he restores them, you'll probably get perturbed by the changes in Chatree's hair length. In the same scene. Talking to the same person. You get the drift. It's rather sloppy film-making, and the continuity person ought to get shot. The special effects department though, gets my thumbs up for its imaginary swimming pool effects. Really cool stuff there.Horror aside, this film essentially similar to like M Night Shyamalan's The Sixth Sense, though it doesn't dwell as deep into the psyche of Chatree and the spirit. It works on another level, along the themes of friendship, sacrifice, forgiveness and closure. I'd recommend it, not as a horror movie, but a coming of age one.P.S. the version shown here rated PG, is the censored version. Not because of anything frightening, but for a sex scene, which I thought was quite pivotal to identify who it was Chatree's father was humping. Edited away, it comes across as "so what's the big deal?"

Songphon M. Boarding school life has never been an enjoyable experience as you have to be far away from your home, be separated from your beloved parents and be surrounded by an unfamiliar environment. In this movie, there is no exception for a main character, a boy who was sent to boarding school in a middle of an academic year. Felling misery and abandoned, he befriended with a mysterious boy who stayed in the same dormitory with him.In Thailand, the movie had been promoted as a scary movie. All promotional materials including movie teasers and trailers led everyone to think that way even though there had never been any exact clue from the director. There was only the speculation from an on-line community of what the movie will be like before it was released.*** The following part of the comment contains spoiler. Please do not read further, if you want to be surprised.*** The movie-goers walked into the theater expecting to fear and scream from numerous scary scenes as shown in the trailers. The director didn't fail them in the first half of the movie, as there were enough scary elements that played with emotion of the audiences through a skillful cinematography. However, once the main plot was revealed in the second half of the movie, "Dek Hor" transformed itself from a scary movie into a coming-of-age drama which emphasized on a friendship between the main character and a lonely spirit that was doomed to haunt in the dorm. Yes, there was actually a "ghost" in this movie but not a scary type. In fact, the spirit was a former student whom was left to die in the pool because of friends' misunderstanding. The main character and the spirit shared the same feeling of loneliness and ignorance from the world around them. This might be the reason why the main character is the only person who could see the spirit. In the end, this estranged friendship teaches both the main character and the audiences how a person could go beyond one's limit to help the one he cared of.Charlie "Nak" Trairat, a young actor who starred a leading role in an critically acclaimed nostalgia Thai movie called "Fan Chan" ("My Girl") two years ago, made his comeback as a main character in this movie to work with his familiar director, Songyos "Yong" Sugmakanan – one of six co-directors from "Fan Chan." The director told a story from his own childhood experience of years in boarding school and added up some spices of horror to create this drama/thriller movie. Moreover, former superstar Jintara "Mam" Sukkhaphat (or Chintara Sukapatana, depending on how you spell her Thai name, who used to star with Robin Williams in the 1987 movie called "Good Morning, Vietnam") also joined the cast in the role of a dormitory mentor. In fact, this is a reunion of Jintara with Charlie who both stared in a Thai movie called "Karnlakrung Nueng Muea Chao Nee" ("Once Upon a Time ... This Morning") a decade ago when Charlie was only one year old. There is also a noticeable new-comer in this movie. Another young actor, Sirachuch "Michael" Chienthaworn who is not a new face for Thais as he used to star in a number of local TV soap operas, made his debut in the role of a lonely spirit. He did a great job in this challenging supporting role.All in all, I enjoyed the movie, even though the ending is too predictable. The change of genres of the movie, intentional or not, is an element of surprise in this movie. At least, it's unexpected to feel good after you realized that you came to the theater for a horror movie but ended up watching a drama.